‘Debtor’s prison’ lawsuit filed against St. Louis suburb resolved with $2.9 million settlement

Published January 3, 2024 2:25 PM

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri city will pay nearly $3 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it and six other St. Louis suburbs of violating the constitutional rights of residents by jailing them and forcing them to pay fees, often for minor traffic violations. The $2.9 million settlement was approved by a federal judge on Tuesday and announced Wednesday by ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis-based public interest law firm. The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2016. Florissant was among several St. Louis County cities whose policing and court practices were scrutinized after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.

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